Zero current board members, volunteers or supporters of the Humane Society of Alger County — the 501(c)3 non-profit organization currently operating the animal shelter — showed up at county meetings this week, potentially setting up an extreme and confusing final county commission meeting of the year next Monday.
At both the first Alger County Commission meeting of the month on Monday, Dec. 12 and the Animal Shelter subcommittee meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14, commissioners, county staff and members of the public that were either neutral or standing against the non-profit gave updates on what the county will do without an animal shelter.
“There is a lot of confusion about this,”Alger County Commissioner and Animal Shelter Subcommittee member Cathy Pullen said. “We are not doing this because we hate animals. We are not doing this out of the blue. The lease wasn’t followed and it is in the best interest of the county to not renew the lease. We are here now to take the necessary steps for the animals and the county.”
Currently, the county plans on operating an animal control, which is similar to a pound. This is in accordance with state law. It gives stray animals a place to live for at least five days before the animal could be moved to a shelter in a nearby county. According to Pullen, shelters in Marquette, Delta, Luce and Schoolcraft Counties have the ability to house the dogs and cats if homes cannot be found for the remaining animals at the shelter.
A budget of roughly $62,000 has been earmarked in next year’s budget to pay for two-part time employees, veterinarian bills and supplies. Alger County Treasurer Pam Johnson attended the meeting and said that there are ways that the county can accept donations for additional costs, similar to how fundraising was done for Alger, the sheriff’s office K-9 unit.
The eviction will take place exactly one year after the original lease between the non-profit and the county originally expired. The former lease was for 15 years, but was extended for one or two months at a time in the hopes of negotiating a new deal. The lease was also violated during the last two years of the lease regarding public hours of operations and additional communication requirements between the non-profit and the county’s subcommittee. In a previous interview with The Munising Beacon, shelter officials said some changes were made on both the organization shifting from a membership to a directorship non-profit and for safety concerns with staffing and the pandemic.
Based on the county’s civil attorney Roger Zappa’s opinion, the county stopped extending the lease to make the non-profit an at-will tenant and then the county organized the eviction with a 72-day notice to the shelter.
Pullen said at Monday’s county commission meeting that there have been some correspondence regarding the shelter, but those questioning the decision understood after a brief discussion.
“We’re getting some phone calls, getting some emails, but when you tell them what is going on, they understand,” Pullen said.
Since the county officially sent the eviction notice to the non-profit in October, the Humane Society of Alger County (or Alger County Animal Shelter as their state-approved ‘doing business as’ name) has stayed primarily quiet. The organization broke its silence on Dec. 7 with a post to their official Facebook page.
“You might have already heard the rumors; therefore, we want to address what is happening. Unfortunately, it is true the County did not renew our lease, and we have to leave our current building. This is a very stressful time since the news came suddenly, during negotiations of our lease, and we still have to figure out many things. Our number one concern is our animals. We are desperate for housing for our beloved animals immediately,” the non-profit wrote.
In the post, the non-profit stated that the majority of the county commission will have new elected officials after the results of the November election. While the two current members of the animal shelter subcommittee will not return to office in January, commissioner-elect Dean Seaberg also attended the meetings. He expressed support for the current board’s eviction of the non-profit and taking necessary steps to serve local animals without the shelter.
Non-profit business corporations are regulated through the state’s Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) and federally through the Internal Revenue Service. Evicting the organization from the county-owned shelter building and land is the only action available at the county level, so the non-profit can still fundraise, look for a new building and/or property, retain staff and boards, hold meetings or any other actions taken in the goal of servicing animals in the area.
The Humane Society of Alger County has all of its publicly-reviewable documentation up to date, but specific financial questions, meeting minutes and other business operations reports do not have to be publicly disclosed. This is due to 501(c)3 exemption from sunshine laws like Freedom of Information Act, Open Meetings Act or Open Records Act, so any additional release of information is not required.
The post from the non-profit also invited the public to specifically attend the next meeting of the Alger County Commission. It will be held on Monday, Dec. 19 at 4 p.m. at the Alger County Courthouse basement conference room. The agenda posted as of Thursday did not include the animal shelter as an action item.
